The day I got lost on Tom, Dick, & Harry Mountain

This shot is the result of one of the scariest days of my life to date when Terence, Lance and I decided to head out to visit Mount Hood for sunrise on New Years Eve. Super short story: We got lost and didn’t know if we were going to make it out that night. This image was taken at the peak of Tom, Dick, & Harry Mountain under some crazy conditions. I was pretty much taking this image blind…. with 80 mph winds, snow whipping around and pelting me in the face and eyes, and extreme cold conditions that froze everything instantly. I couldn’t use my tri-pod at all in these conditions and the mountain kept disappearing in waves of fog and atmosphere. I kept trying to compose the image and then would fire a series of shots with my eyes closed and ended up with this one clean image of the mountain. You can see the snow whipping around in the lower part of the image. Definitely the most intense conditions I’ve ever experienced. Little did I know that capturing this image would just be the start of our adventure. A day I won’t forget.

A photographer and friends got a great shot of Mt Hood last week from above Mirror Lake. But they were slightly less prepared than necessary for both the trail and the weather. I left him a comment agreeing that he should take some survival training, but saying they did lots of things right, too. A classic case of LNT principle #1 being in effect. – Mike Mathews

ONC Events

Here’s a listing of shared ONC Gorge/Portland club weekends for Tilly Jane Guard Station. January 19-21, 2018 February 9-11, 2018 March 16-18, 2018 April 13-15, 2018 ONC-Gorge Chapter members have up to 4 slots available for each of those weekends; …Continue reading →

Kongsberger Ski Club in the Seattle area has announced their Cross-Country Ski Race schedule for 2018 on their website http://www.kongsbergers.org/. They also note that the race fee for juniors has been reduced to $5 (from $15). Kids are still free. Ozbaldy 50k …Continue reading →

Ski with Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) at 11th Annual Winter Happening/9th Annual XC Ski days @ Teacup Lake Nordic Center! This XC Ski event is a real character and confidence builder for the WSSB students. For some students …Continue reading →

Here’s a listing of shared ONC Gorge/Portland club weekends for Tilly Jane Guard Station. January 19-21, 2018 February 9-11, 2018 March 16-18, 2018 April 13-15, 2018 ONC-Gorge Chapter members have up to 4 slots available for each of those weekends; …Continue reading →

Here’s a listing of shared ONC Gorge/Portland club weekends for Tilly Jane Guard Station. January 19-21, 2018 February 9-11, 2018 March 16-18, 2018 April 13-15, 2018 ONC-Gorge Chapter members have up to 4 slots available for each of those weekends; …Continue reading →

Here’s a listing of shared ONC Gorge/Portland club weekends for Tilly Jane Guard Station. January 19-21, 2018 February 9-11, 2018 March 16-18, 2018 April 13-15, 2018 ONC-Gorge Chapter members have up to 4 slots available for each of those weekends; …Continue reading →